SAE Congress: Mahindra diesel hybrid truck to appear at FEV booth

We been hearing for several weeks now that Mahindra & Mahindra would probably be displaying their new diesel hybrid powertrain at the SAE World Congress next week and now we have official confirmation. Mahindra won't actually have a booth at the conference but will be on hand at the FEV booth. FEV is an engineering company that helps automakers develop their powertrains. FEV and Mahindra today announced that the two companies are working together to accelerate the development of a hybrid system for the Appalachian pickup and Scorpio SUV. The two trucks will hit the U.S. market in 2009 with a conventional 2.2L turbodiesel power-plant. The press release from FEV indicates the diesel hybrid will launch in Asia first. Global Vehicles USA, the American distributor for Mahindra has previously told ABG that the hybrid will be coming to the U.S. in 2010.

The hybrid system will be a full parallel hybrid utilizing a 30kW electric motor and 2.3kWh nickel metal hydride battery. FEV's release indicates that all the functionality expected of a hybrid will be on hand, including electric drive, electric boost, auto start-stop and regenerative braking. Mahindra CTO Dr. Arun Jaura will also be on hand and ABG will be sitting down to chat with him during the show to learn more.